Doing a little work on the Champ to get ready for upcoming contests. Pulled out the static judging sheets from last year's Fall Classic. Lost 10 point on the craftsmanship section of the judging because of two things that I was aware of. First thing were the wing fairings, when built the fairings over lapped the wings, bent both sides while loading the plane in the van the first time, these were cut off flush with the fuselage so I'm making new ones. I got this idea at another scale contest last year from I believe Gorilla Toast, going to make plywood filler ribs that will used while transporting to prevent bending. The second item was the trim tab, it was built per the plans but it didn't match the three view, the plans showed a straight angled end near the rudder while the three view shows it rounded. In the craftsmanship section each item is worth 5 points, I spoke with the judge during the contest to get clarity and he was almost apologetic about deducing 10 points. At any rate the tab was removed, covering removed and the end was rounded to match the three view. It is now covered awaiting paint.
In the outline section of judging, lost 1 1/2 points. 1/2 point for the left aileron, aftering studying the aileron, I believe the defect is the inner gap between the aileron and wing trailing edge is tapered, I suspect some of the problem is due to build up of the covering near the tailing edge. Where the aileron is thicker, you end up a layer of fabric and a layer of pinking tape, where at the trailing edge you end up with the bottom fabric, overlapped by the top fabric and the bottom pinking tape overlapped by the top tape. of course this is compounded because both the wing and aileron are cover in the same manner. Plan to cut a few layers of the pinking tape near the trailing edge. Lost 1/2 point of the tail group, comment states "Stab to Fuse". I don't see any problem and I can't change it anyway without recovering the stab, maybe the judge will miss it! Finally lost 1/2 point on the landing gear section, after review I believe the defect is the lack of brake parts on the landing gear, the three view shows backing plates in drum protruding inward. Ordered 1 foot of 2" Delrin to make those parts.
Finally lost 1/2 point in the Finish, color and markings section. This was due to the Aeronca emblem offset toward the tail post, I did this to avoid having the emblem painted over pinking tape, a cut vinyl would solve the problem but I don't think one could match the 7AC orange color, it's rather unique so this will remain.
I would be quite happy with a 99 however I suspect the judges will keep looking until something else is found! I remember many years ago a work mate explaining how he got the boss to approve an order, he made an obvious mistake that the boss found so he was happy and approved the revised order!
The Champ build lives on!
